A BATTLING five-hour 85 from Alastair Cook spared England a three-day defeat in the final Investec Test match yesterday but barring drastic intervention from the weather — and heavy rain is forecast from 1pm onwards today — they look certain to go down to a heavy loss at some point, a result that will certainly dampen the victory celebrations planned for after the game.
Having been made to follow on before lunch, England ended the day on 203 for six, still 129 runs away from avoiding an innings defeat, with only Jos Buttler – unbeaten on 33 after 27 overs at the crease — remaining of the recognised batsmen.
The pick of Australia’s bowlers was Peter Siddle, who took one for 14 from 16 razor-sharp overs, but it was an inspired move from Michael Clarke, the captain, in his final Test to bring on Steve Smith three overs from stumps that produced the wicket of Cook, who was within sniffing distance of a first home Ashes century. “It was incredible [after winning at Trent Bridge] to go away for 10 days and to be walking around on the back of that was fantastic, [so] everyone is very disappointed to play as we have,” Buttler said. “At the end of the day we have still won the Ashes and it’s still a great feeling when you hear the crowd sing that the urn is coming home. I’ve had a tough series [with the bat] and it’s been tough mentally. We’ve got to keep scrapping. It’s not meant to be easy. I’m just trying to hang in as long as I can.”
Siddle’s wicket was that of Adam Lyth, who looks likely to lose his place after scoring only 115 runs in the series, the lowest return by an England opener in a full Ashes series.